Reply With QuoteI’m always impressed by the finish that can be achieved - you’d expect it to come like that as new, but no.
That said I’m a lazy owner, so it would look just as bad again within a few weeks.
My eldest purchased an S3 going back a few months ago, almost instantly he was talking about getting the paintwork sorted. I'm not that anal about paintwork and I tend not to pick up on issues, it's not really my forte and don't really pay attention to it too much
However in some lights you could see various areas where bird s**t had etched in the top coat and many areas where somebody was quite lazy with their cleaning techniques.
One of my friends sons is a detailer and just after purchase he took a look at it. I was quite surprised what he actually noticed as it was outside my field of vision however, today after day one of the enhancement I can really see the difference.
Can believe the attention to detail these guys go to, his test area took an hour alone and in total it took him over 3 hours to do the bonnet alone.
Tomorrow is the machine finish on the other side and Thursday is the ceramic coating.
Really looking forward to seeing the final finish as if today's efforts is anything to go by it's look amazing.
I’m always impressed by the finish that can be achieved - you’d expect it to come like that as new, but no.
That said I’m a lazy owner, so it would look just as bad again within a few weeks.
It's just a matter of time...
Yeh, he was telling me about a week old Porsche he sorted recently which was by all acccounts awful.Originally Posted by Omegamanic
I do my own and have done for a while , it’s quite therapeutic sadly . I’ve done lots of new cars and have my own concourse car that’s 35 year old and done under 2k miles . Waxed and coatings etc are mind numbingingly expensive
I’m only amateur with such things, but love the finish that can be achieved with a good machine polish.
Do it for family & friends but damn it’s a lot of hard work- you can see why they charge what they do.
Seeing an old car come back to glory is part of the enjoyment. Did my fathers Saab 93 and brother in laws MX and both were more rewarding, but significantly harder work than any of my newer cars.
Coming to summer, that’s going to look amazing. Just make sure he’s doing a 2 bucket wash & not using a sponge!
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3 bucket apparently?
Two bucket with grit guards
3...wow
My final finish is a 0ppm water filter, so no touching of the car in drying and a spotless finish even in the sun.
I’ve grit guards but work on the view of not putting the mitt that deep & using my hands to remove the dirt in the ‘rinse’ bucket.
What’s the 3rd bucket then?
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I know he has the grit guards but have no idea what the other bucket is for.
You could technically have as many buckets as you like washing and faffing about , I was going to fit a water filtration system then thought better of it in the end . There’s plenty of good stuff on detailing stuff on there and I think there’s a video of one of mine from a few years ago 😆
I would like to have this done on my little PUG Gti but I know that the day after some bonehead would scrape it in the car park or some such disaster befall.
That's going to look great when finished. I've just bought a DA polisher to go along with my rotary. It's amazing how much time I've spent detailing my cars......love it though and the end product makes it all worth while (to me that is🤔).
Not looking for exact figures, but roughly how much does a job like this cost. I bought a new car precisely two months ago and paid for the ceramic coating and stuff, but looking closely I can see little scratches in the clear coat.
Thanks in advance
James
Yes, don’t see how these finishes last.
Never manage to avoid parking/trolleys in Tesco, country lanes and bushes, fingernails around the handles etc.
Think my lads paying him about £350 however we do get him quite a bit of work and so think he's doing it cheaper. I have no idea what the normal price is.
I recently had a quote for my car for a full detail with ceramic coat and it came in at £460 plus VAT.
I would have said £550 - £600 for the level of work the detailer is doing. I've not had this done since I had my 911. I've never bothered on an everyday PCP car. OPs son has definitely secured a good deal for £350.
I’m amazed at these low figures. I’ve seen prices quoted at well over a grand !
I had my S3 done a couple of years ago. The bloke I used was amazed at how bad the factory finish on the paint was. He completed a full clean, detail, ceramic coating and wheel coating for I think £600. It still looks good after a 2 bucket wash now, though the diamond cut wheel are a right pain to keep clean.
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they could have lobbed the ceramic coating on top of paint with swirls tbh. I picked up a new car straight from the dealer and still had to prep it before i put the coating on it . There are some very easy CC to put on now and some good CC toppers to keep them up to speed . 4-500 is the norm with prices trundling upwards when you add more work in
Not sure why he's taped up the headlights and rear lights, a detailer will usually polish the scratches out of those as well and ceramic coat them, probably got his hands full with the paintwork alone I expect.
I have a detailer going down to detail and ceramic coat my new car in a few weeks to prevent the dealers valeter going anywhere near it as they usually inflict quite a lot of damage on a new cars paintwork with their gritty sponge and broom washes.
i just edge the lights / rubber but every one has their own way of doing things , the audi paint is very hard generally and i found that true when i did two of my rs4 avants
I'm not looking to rain on anyone's parade but surely a good run out and it's mostly lost. I mean if its going into a museum or of some significance as a car maybe but for a normal car a £350 car wash seems a bit OTT.
I'm happy to be educated to the contrary of course.
Not the case if it's done correctly then looked after properly (by that I mean washed using 2 bucket method and wish mitts, dried using decent drying towels etc). Can last a few years at least.
Mine is about 18 months down the line and about ready for a bit of a looking at , hoping to do it on the next few weeks fingers crossed . That was CC from new too and cleaned fairly often either 2 bucket or snow foam on its own as i dont touch it much when snow foaming
Yikes!
How long does he spend working on the car? Are the materials very expensive?
I'd love to see my car looking "showroom" again but I'm gobsmacked at that price.
Started Tuesday and it'll be finished by Thursday night. I always struggled to see how they justified the price however after watching this guy for the past few days it easy to see why.
He spent most of the day with the fine finish and then took it outside in the natural daylight to see if there were any imperfections. I looked round it and was happy, I couldn't see anything, he pulled it back inside and spent a further hour on the roof.
The Audi paintwork is very hard and apparently it's a struggle to get it back but he's almost there.
Took my Z4M in for its service today. Asked for it to not be washed, as we all know the love a dealer gives it.
They made a song & dance about ‘catching it in time so it hadn’t been washed’. Noticed water spots and tyre dressing on the car when I got home.
Looked at my dash cam....here’s a lovely gent using a blade to dry a poorly washed car on a paint surface I only machine polished in September before I garaged it over winter.
Can already see some minor marks on the boot & 2 long micro scratches that would align with the use of such a barbaric tool.
So annoyed. Full unedited post in the bear pit.
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I've come to realise that there are some people who really like a clean car and I've also come to realise that I'm not one of them.
I don't get it at all.
Polish car wash for me unless I'm really bored on a Sunday afternoon.
Lovett?
Fair play if it's such a long job. Like I say, be great to see my car looking that good!
Cooper Reading
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I am much worse. I tried to wash my last car every two years at least, and tip the gravel off the mats at the same time. The car wash at the garage is used, but last time, when the big brush that goes across the car, was on its return trip from the back, it operated the ‘boot lid’, so I had to drive out of the car wash with the back open in some haste as I was wet enough!
Things improved markedly when I stopped smoking as I was previously driving a company car, I think it was a Fiesta that someone must have got me for a joke. If anyone else had to drive it they used to comment on the yellow film of nicotine on everything. Apparently they could taste it in the air. Cleaning it used to consist of opening the driver’s door and letting the half-eaten meat pies and their wrappings fall out of the gap between seat and door onto the road as I drove along.
You pay all that money and then drive them on the road?
I'd like my wife's car to be a bit cleaner but since we bought it last August she hasn't managed to get it cleaned yet.
Cheers,
Neil.
I used to be in the vehicle-cleaning-chemicals trade and the detailing world forum actually has a sign available to print off and leave in your car for occasions such as this. It is inevitable that the no-wash instruction filter through to the ‘valeters,*Took my Z4M in for its service today. Asked for it to not be washed, as we all know the love a dealer gives it.
They made a song & dance about ‘catching it in time so it hadn’t been washed’. Noticed water spots and tyre dressing on the car when I got home.
Looked at my dash cam....here’s a lovely gent using a blade to dry a poorly washed car on a paint surface I only machine polished in September before I garaged it over winter.
Can already see some minor marks on the boot & 2 long micro scratches that would align with the use of such a barbaric tool.
So annoyed. Full unedited post in the bear pit.
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I use this name loosely.
Thanks - will get one of the signs printed. I’m on those forums but not as often as I used to be. I was more focused on them not resetting the service indicator which I had stuck a post it note to the rear view mirror as was a ‘between service’
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As with everything else on this forum I now feel very inadequate, suddenly my “now and then by the Polish guys” doesn’t seem to be enough.
I’m not into the cleaning thing myself either (I’ve cleaned my wrx wagon 3 times in 4 years) but I can appreciate the effort and results & I quite like seeing it done.
Regarding coming like it new... there’s many a thread from detailers on (I think it’s) detailing world forum where they’ve bought cars brand new, asked the dealership not to even wash it and then they take them home and detail them. You’d be amazed at the state of some paintwork on these threads, even sanding marks in the paint etc.
And £350 sounds cheap to me, started Tuesday and the guy finishes Thursday night! £116. a day for a skilled process with expensive tools and applicants!. These guy’s are normally laboriously working away with a lot of concentration all day. It’s not exactly a £350 car wash, a 3 day process to clean & cut back paint defects and polish.
This was the final finish, got to say it was simply amazing. The colour is now so deep it's almost purple in natural light, considering it's Sepang blue
That looks a quality job on the S3
I've was bitten by the detailing bug several years ago and started entering my car in concours events which really didn't help my OCD one bit.
As said it is very therapeutic although it's also ridiculously expensive when you start buying things you never knew you needed or even existed
Nothing wrong with not wanting to pay somebody £350 to clean your everyday saloon car.
That’s hardly being inadequate, if anything it marks you out as self aware and of reasonable cognitive ability.
So you're suggesting that people who do want to spend that kind of money getting their cars paintwork sorted don't have that ability?
I’m saying those that don’t are not “inadequate”
And then went on to say that by not paying someone £350 to clean an everyday salon car that they were indeed proving they had cognitive ability. Basically saying that those who do don't.
You are free to interpret that in whatever way you like.
You need a certain ability to pass a written and practical test to drive a car which would presumably also enable one to weigh up the merits of employing a specialist to clean your car with a cotton bud or not, plenty of people obviously hold that concept in high regard or the ‘automotive detail specialist' wouldn’t exist.
That looks top drawer that Franky, amazing job.
I have told my kids (not old enough to drive yet!) that when they get their cars I’m going to sit in the back with my shoes on the seats while I kick the back of the front seats. I’m going to wipe bogeys on the door handles and leave all kinds of litter pushed down crevices around the rear!! Scruffy little bleeders!
When the wife washes her car she runs the hose over mine at the same time. I always thanks her and compliment her on a job well done!
Rob
Car looks superb. Well worth it.
Life is too short to worry about micro scratches
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